Most of those released in 14 September POW swap had been held captive since early days of war – photo, videos

The vast majority of the Ukrainians released in a prisoner of war swap on Saturday, 14 September had been held in Russian captivity since the early days of the full-scale war.

Source: Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram

Quote: "82 privates and sergeants. 21 officers. Defenders of Mariupol, Azovstal [Steelworks] and Kyiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts.

Among those released are defenders from the 36th Marine Brigade, the National Guard, particularly the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade, border guards, and officers from the Kraken Special Forces Unit. There are also officers from the National Police and the Territorial Defence Forces, the State Emergency Service, and Armed Forces units.

The vast majority of those released are people who had been held captive since the early days of the war."

Details: Lubinets added that there have been 57 POW exchanges since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, and 3,672 Ukrainians have returned.

Background: 

• On Saturday, 14 September, 103 soldiers were released from Russian captivity as part of a POW swap.
• Among those released are 38 officers from Ukraine's National Guard. The swap also included 28 Ukrainian servicemen: two from the Kraken special unit, two from the International Legion, three from the Special Operations Forces and one from the Territorial Defence Forces. Azov reported that 23 of its fighters had been released.

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